AIRPLAY 2 GAINING TRACTION WITH SOUND UNITED BRANDS

13th June, 2017

The announcement of Apple's AirPlay 2 is pretty big news as far as multi-room audio platforms go, and now it's gaining traction from some of the world's biggest brands in audio.

Being released as part of Apple's iOS 11 update which starts rolling out from July in limited form (we understand September is a more realistic time frame), AirPlay 2 will serve as the control hub of any AP2 compatible product. From the Control Centre on any iOS device, Apple TV or computer running iTunes users will be able to name any compatible product - for example, 'Lounge', 'Alfresco' etc.

You will be able to stream music wirelessly to each (or we assume, collectively) compatible device. The advantage of AirPlay 2 is that products from multiple manufacturers can be used without being locked into any individual brand or manufacturer's range of products.

Announced today, Sound United have confirmed they have signed up with AP2 which brings with it Denon, Marantz, Polk, HEOS and Definitive Technology to the party. These brands join an already confirmed line-up (at time of writing) including B&O, Naim, Bose, Devialet, Dynaudio, Beats, McIntosh, B&W and Bluesound.

Sound United has said that initially only AV Receivers and HiFi products will be compatible with AP2, but other product categories will follow.

For some existing AirPlay products, there's also good news. Many may become AirPlay 2 compatible via future firmware updates.

AirPlay 2 also brings with it HomeKit integration for smarthome control and potential to play nicely with third-party apps.